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ANALYZING ENERGY CONTENT OF SUBSTANCES. Mudassar Sandozi. The purpose of this experiment is to find the substance that produces the most amount of heat when lighten which also shows the substance with the highest energy content. The basis of this experiment is the fact that combustion separates the components of substances by breaking the bonds holding the elements and molecules together thus releasing the bonds’ energy in the form of heat. Therefore, in measuring this released heat, the energy content of the materials burned can be measured. In using water as the heat conductor of the experiment, the heat released by the burning each burning object can be measured by the heat change of water in quantifiable data, and then compared to one another. The results found showed different numbers for each substance, showing the variations in energy content. The candle was measured to release the most amount of heat and contain the most energy. The significance in being able to compare the different energy contents of substances has many obvious practical implementations in fuel research and alternative energy exploration.
Key Words:
Combustion Reactions, Heat Content, Joules, Bonds, Specific Heat, Energy

Data






Candle 1
Candle 2
Splint
Paper
Peanut
Flask Empty (g)
94.88
94.88
94.88
94.88
94.88
Flask + Water (g)
205.66
225.37
225.55
224.29
216.79
Substance + Foil Before (g)
11.37
10.30
1.25
5.71
3.04
Substance + Foil After (g)
11.18
10.08
1.06
2.51
2.83
Temperature Before (C)
20.6
20.6
21.0
20.4
18.8
Temperature After (C)
30.8
31.0
22.9
38.3
22.4
Water Volume (ml)
110.78
130.49
130.67
129.41
121.91
Mass Lost (g)
0.19
0.22
0.19
3.20
0.21
Temperature Change (C)
10.2
10.4
1.9
17.9
3.6
Energy Collected by Water(KJoules)
4.73
5.68
1.04
9.70
1.84
Energy Collected from Substances (Kjoules/grams)
24.9
25.8
5.47
3.03
8.75
Summery: The masses of the combusted substances differed from the original substances. The candle lost 0.19g the first time and .22 grams the second time, the splint lost 0.19g, the paper lost 3.20g, and the peanut lost 0.21g after being burned. Each substance heated the water differently, the candle heated it 10.2 C the first time, 10.4C the second time, the splint heated it 1.9C, the paper heated it 17.9 C, and the peanut heated it 3.6 C. The mass of water is equal to the volume because ml=cm^3. Using the specific heat of water (4.184Joules/g) we found the heat released by the candle to be 24.8Kj the first time, 25.8Kj the second time, 5.46Kj for the splint, 3.02Kj for the paper, and 8.74Kj for the Peanut.

Article Summery
Calculating the energy of pet foods
In this experiment they were comparing the pet food energies they found to the pet food listed in the labels of the food. They used combustion to heat water which directly affects the calorie contents with its change in temperature. They put their data in terms of energy per gram of substance. In the end they found that proteins contained higher energy values than other materials they tested. The data they collected was similar to the labels on the boxes. Protein was found to have an energy content of 5.73Kcal/gram in the forms of milk and eggs. They later also found that fat has more energy than the protein but is less healthy for the animals for other reasons. They tested the protein with several experiments and found similar results showing the reproductively of their data. They also got reliable data for the fat chains which had 9.39 kcal/grams because of the fatty acid chains which contain large amounts of bonds. The bonds therefore directly relate to the energy content.

    1. Lab Diet. . http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/full/132/6/1799S (accessed 2010 March 8)